Th BRITISH HERBAL 
G on eer i 
MAR’SH ~ W HO Rf LE. 
O XG C OF CHGS: 
HIE flower is formed of a fingle petal, which is hollowed like a bell, and is divided at the edge 
into four fegments, which turn backwards. The cup is extremely fmall, and remains after the 
flower. The fruit is a berry, of a roundifh form, and divided into four cells. The feeds are few 
and minute. fs - P 
. Linnaeus places this among the offandria monogynia, the threads in the flower being eight, and the 
ftyle from the rudiment of the fruit fingle. He joins it with the vaccinium; from which it differs in 
effential charaéters, as we fhall fhew when we come to the fhrubby kinds. 
The oxycoccus is a plant of which there is properly but one known fpecies, and that is a native of 
Britain. 
Marfh Whortle Berry. 
Oxycoccus vulgaris. 
The root creeps under the furface ; and is long, 
thick, and redifh. 
The ftalks are numerous and weak: they are 
very flender, of a purplith colour, not much 
branched, and four or five inches long: they 
fupport themfelves at beft but irregularly ; and, 
when loaded with fruit, always lie upon the 
ground. 
The leaves are fmail, and of a bright green: © 
G 2B son. US 
they are broad at the bafe, fharp-pointed; and 
they have no. footftalks. : 
The flowers ftand on long, flender pedicles ; 
and are of a faint red. 
The berries are longifh, and of a deep red 
when ripe. 
Tt is found on boggy grounds in Warwickhire, 
and in fome other places, and flowers in June. 
C. Bauhine calls it Vitis idea paluftris, 
The berries are cooling and fubaftringent: they 
will ftop bloody ftools, and they ftrengthen the 
ftomach. ; 
VIII. as. 
MOSCHATELL 
MOSCHATELLINA. 
rue flower is formed of a fingle petal, and is hollowed, and divided into four or into five feg- . 
ments at the edge. The cup is formed of a fingle piece, and is fplit as it were into two parts. 
The fruit is a round berry, growing between the cup and the flower. 
The clufter of flowers grows in a kind of fquare head. 
is held in a feparate cell. 
The feeds are four, and each 
- Linneeus places this among the oéfandria polygynias the threads in the flower being eight, and 
the ftyles from the fruit numerous. 
. This author takes away the received name of the plant, and calls it adoxa. 
We have in this another inftance of the uncertainty of taking characters from the number of threads 
in the flower. We have fhewn this in two plants evidently of the fame genus in the Herba Paris; but 
here we fee it in the flowers of the fame plant. The flower, which grows at the top of the clufter, has 
the number of parts here firft named, the fegments being four, and alfo the threads four within ; but 
in all the other flowers on the fame ftalk the fegments are five, and the threads in the fame man- 
ner five. 
Of this, as of the former genus, there is but one known fpecies, and that is a native of Britain. 
Tuberous Mofchatell. 
Mofcbatellina tuberofa. 
The root is fmall, thick, of an irregular fi- 
gure, and pale brown colour. 
The ‘leaves are large, and they are fupported 
on long footftalks : they are divided rudely into 
three parts; and thefe are again notched into 
three at the ends, ‘where they terminate ob- 
tufely. 
The ftalks are about three inches high : they 
are flender, whitifh, and weak, 
There ufually grows a fingle leaf on each, and 
‘that toward the middle: ir is like thofe from the 
root, but fmaller, and of a paler green. 
The flowers ftand at the top in a fhort, thick, 
{quare clufter : they are of a greenifh colour, with 
a tinge of whitifh and yellowith. 
The berries are {mall and redifh. 
Tt is frequent at the fides of woods in the rotten 
earth that lies under trees. It flowers in April. 
C, Bauhine calls it Ranunculus nemorum mofcha- 
tellina diftus. 
Its virtues are unknown. 
GENUS 
